Vehicle door control



May 21, 1935. c, A. 'BREIT VEHICLE DOOR CONTROL Filed April 24, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet l May 21, 1935. Q BRE|T 2,002,025

VEHICLE DOOR CONTROL Filed April 24, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 UNITED (STATES Prrrsrir OFFICE Y VEHICLE DOOR CONTROL Charles A. Breit, Houston,- Tex;

Application April 24,

8 Claims.

This. invention relates to vehicle door control. An object of the invention is to provide controlling means for vehicle doors, such as are designed for use on street cars, and which are arranged to be manually op buses and the like, ened by the passenger and automatically closed, but

which can be opened only when the vehicle brakes are applied and which must be completely closed beforethe brakes can be released.

Another object of the invention is to provide mechanically operable means normally locking the doors in closed position, said locking means being releasable electrically by means of an electrically operable releasing device under the control of the vehicle operator.

Another object of the provision of mechanical the locking device in i invention resides in the means for maintaining nactive position when the doors are open and which is moved to inactive or neutral position when the doors are closed to permit the locking devic e to move to active position to lock the doors in closed position.

A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the character described with a warning signal, such as an electric light or other electric signal, operative to notify the vehicle operator when the doors are open and when in closed position. A further feature of provision of electrically the invention resides in the 'controlled means under the control of the operator and. through which the release of the vehicle brakes will be prevented until the doors are fully closed.

With the above and other objects'in view, the

' invention has particular features of construction,

relation to certain novel operation and arrangement of parts, an example of which is given in this specification and 'il panying drawings', wherein;

Figure 1 shows a side view lustrated in the accomorthe vehicle doors asviewed from theIinside of the vehicleI-y FigureZ shows a top view of the doors, showing the connecting mechanism for causing the simuh taneous. movement of the doors and thefclosing door check. V Figure 3 shows a check,

fragmentary detail of said showing the actuating spring.

Figure 4 showsa'fragmentary vertical sectional view of thevehicle showing also the gram, and v Figure}: shows a wiring diafragmentary detail ofthe air control valve mechanism.

Referring now more par ticularly a the drawings wherein like numerals of reference designate the same parts ineach of the figures, thenumerals 192.3, Serial Ne. scrisao' (c1. SOs-6.1) r

l and 2 refer to the doors which are fastened at their outer edges tojthe vertical rotatable supporting shafts 3 and 4 suitably mounted in the vehicle. Cranks 5 and 6 are securely fastened to the upper ends of these respective shafts and. extend in opposite directions and are connected by the cross linkil whose ends are pivotally connected to theends of said'respective cranks so thatfwhen either door is opened orclosed the other door wlll mo've correspondingly so that the doors will open and close together. There is a conventional type of door closingcheck i} which is pivotally mounted at one end'to the free end of an extension 5 of the crank 5 and the other end of thischeckis pivotally iconnected to the lug l0 which is fastened'to the link 1. The door check 8 includes also a helical spring 9, shown in Figure 3, which normally tends. to maintain the doors in closed position. The vehicle has a pivotally mounted latch as l2, over one of said doors as 2. The outer end ofthis latch is pivoted to a suitable part of the vehicle at (2 The lower end of a link I3 is pivoted to the latch l2 and its upper end is connected to an armature l5 of the electromagnet I4 above. The door beneath the latch I2, has an inwardlyj' extending bracket llattached thereto whose inner end is upturned and the ed that the inner free end of the bracket is'so locat lateh l2, will drop in behind said upturned end when the doors are closed, and will lock'the doors in closed position. p Secured on the outside of the door 2 there is a bracket 39 which overlaps the door 1, on its outer side as shown in Figure l. This prevents the opening of the door I until the door 2 has been released and upon release of the latch l2, should the passenger push the door I. outwardly the door 2 will immediately swing outwardly also. Were it not'for the bracket 39 the door would have a certain amount of swinging movement independent of the door '2 on account of necessary looseness of connections between the cranks 5, 6 and the. cross link I. e

Supported on the latch 12 there is an electric switch |8 shaped to complete electrical connec tions with the spaced contacts ll above before the latch l2 clears the upturned end of the bracket .l l to unlockthe doors.

There is a dep ndin in position to maintain the latch in inactive or unlocked position.

The numeral 30 designates a fluid pressure line connected with a suitable source of pressure fluid and which enters the chamber of a casing 39'. This casing 39 has an outlet conduit 49 which connects with the .pipe 28. The lower end of the conduit 49 is formed with a valve seat 4! arranged to be closed by the valve 42 which is seated by the coil spring 43 and which normally holds the valve 42 closed. There is an electro-magnet 29 whose armature 44 is formed with a valve 45 arranged to control a valve seat 46 and when seated to close the conduit 40. The valves 42, 45, are connected by a stem 47 arranged within the conduit 46. The pipe 28 is connected into the casing 48 of the air release valve mechanism and slidably mounted in this casing 48 is the double check valve 25. The vehicle will be equipped with the usualcontrol valve accessible to the operator and which may be manipulated by the operator to admit air through the lines 26, 21, to the-brake cylinders for the purpose of setting the brakes, the double check valve 25 meanwhile moving to the position shown in Figure 4 to close the pipe 28 andflopen the pipe 2?. If a passenger desires to alightfrom the car, the

' operator may close the switch .23 and an, electrical current will flow through the conductor 3|, the-electro-ma'gnet I4 and will ground on the vehicle at 48.1" Thereup'onthe armature l5 will be lifted elevating the latch l2. The contacts of the switch l8 will thereupon make' connections with theconta'cts l'l before the latch 12 is fully lifted and disengaged from the bracket'll and thereupon current will flow. through thefconductor 32 and switch [8 to conductor 33 and thence divides and flows through'the conductor 34, energizing the electro-magnet 29 and being grounded on the vehicle at 49, said current flowing also through the conductor 35 and the electric signal 24, and being grounded on the vehicle at 50.

The electro-magnet 29, being energized,,actuates the armature 44 opening the valve 42 and closing the valved? and communicating the pipe 30 with the pipe 28. Should'the'operator now attempt to release the brakes before the doors are. closed the pressure will be relieved from the pipe 26 and the double check valve- 25 will move to left hand position under the influence of pressure from the pipe 28, cutting off escape of pressure from the brakes through the pipes 26 and 2! and supplying pressure to the pipe 27 from the pipe 28 thus maintaining the brakes in set position to the end that the operator can not release the brakes while the doors are unlocked. The latch, l2 will continue to move-toward inactive position after the switch 88 has completed connections with the contacts H, the spring 52 yielding topermit this, until the latch I 2 has released the bracket l I, that is has moved to inactive position. The doors are free to be pushed open by the outgoing passenger and the opening movement of the doors will be restrained only by the spring'9 of the door check 8. The initial movement of the door 2 allows the hook I9 to pass under the free end of the latch I2 which prevents the'latch 12 from dropping when the doors are opened even though the operator should open the switch 23, and so the switch l8 will remain in contact with the contact points I! and the signal 24 will be rendered active and the brakes will. be applied as long as the dooris held open regardless of the manipulation of the switch 23 until the switch 23 is open to permit the latch' E2 to drop by gravity. If the switch 23 is open when the doors swing to closed position the bracket l i will release the hook I!) from the latch i2 and said latch immediately drops to active or locking position opening the switch 18 which, in turn, renders the signal 24 inactive and de-energizes the electro-magnet 29. Thereupo-n the spring tilwill close the valve 42 shutting off the pressure pipe 32 from the pipe 28 and said pipe 28willbevented to atmosphere through the seat 36 thus restoring the normal control of 'the brakes to the operator.

The main electric supply line is indicated by the numeral 52 whichis equipped with a cut out switch 29 and a fuse 22.

The numerals 35, and 31, designate resistors in the conductors 35 and 3drespectively, and which are necessary only when high voltage current is used.

The numeral 38 designates a resistor connected into a current conductor 53 to limit the amount of current required to hold the armature [5 up while the doors are open and the switch 23 closed. The electro-magnet it is so constructed that the armature l5 opens the switch it just before said armature completes its upward movement thus causing'theresistor 38 to be connected in series with the coil of the magnet l4 thereby reducing the amount of, current. This unit, or electromagnet, id, as a whole, is of conventional construction. In cases where current of low voltage is available, the resistor 38 is not necessary but a coil of high resistance may be used as a part of the electro-magnet i l.v

Thedrawings and description disclose what is now considered to be a preferred form of the invention by way of illustration only while the broad principle of the invention will be defined by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A vehicle door mounted to open and close, means for automatically closing the door, means movable to active position to lock the door in closed position and movable to inactive position to release'the door to permit the door to be manually opened, means under the'control of the operator of the vehicle and eirective, when manipulated, to move said lockingmeans to said inactive position and brake controlling means arranged to be controlled by the operator-controlled means and effective to admit a continuous pressure of fluid to the vehicle brake mechanism to maintain the vehicle brakes set while the door is unlocked.

2. A vehicle door mou'ntedj to open and close, means for automatically closing the door, means movable to active position tolock the door in closed position and movable to inactive, or unlocked position, to release the door to permit the door to be manually opened, means arranged to be rendered active by the vehicle operator and effective to move said locking means to said inactive position to release the door and also arranged to be rendered inactive by the operator to permit the locking means to move to active position to lock the door closed, and brake controlling means arranged to be controlled by said operator-controlled means and efiective to continuously admit fluid pressure to maintain the brakes set when said door-locking means is in released position.

3. A vehicle door mounted to open and close,

I means for automatically closing-the door, a locking device movable to active position to lock the door closed and movable to inactive position to release the door to permit the door to be manually opened, operator-controlled meansoperative, by the vehicle operator, to active position to release said door-locking device and to neutral position to, permit said door locking device to assume itssaid active position to lock the door closed, an electric signal device affected by the operator-controlled means and effective to indicate the position of said door-locking device, and brake controlling means arranged to be controlled by said operator-controlled means and effective to continuously supply a pressure fluid to the brake mechanism to maintain the brakes set when said door locking device is in released position.

4; A vehicle door mounted to open and close, means for automatically closing the door when the door is opened, a locking device movable to active position to lock the door closed and movable to inactive position to release the door to permit the door to be manually opened, operatorcontrolled means operable by the vehicle operator and effective to release said door locking device, an electric signal device affected by the operator-controlled means and efiective, when so operated, to indicate that the door is released, brake controlling means arranged to be controlled by the operator-controlledmeans and effective to set the brakes when the door is so released and means for maintaining said signal and for maintaining the brakes set when the locking device is in inactive position.

5. In a vehicle having a device for controlling the application of fluid under pressure to the brakes of the vehicle, a barrier mounted to be manually opened, means for automatically closing the barrier, means normally locking said barrier in closed position, electrically operable means under the control of the operator through which said locking means may be released to unlock the barrier, brake controlling means arranged to be controlled by said operatorcontrolled means and effective to maintain the brakes set when the barrier is unlocked and to prevent the release of the brakes when the barrier is opened, said operatorcontrolled means being operativeto permit the barrier to be locked and the brakes released,

only when the barrieris fully closed.

6. A vehicle barrier mounted to open and close, means for automatically moving the barrier to closed position, when open, said barrier and an adjacent part of the vehicle being provided one with a fixed and the other with a movable interlocking means, said interlocking means being adapted to interengage to lock the barrier in closed position, means mounted independent of the barrier but operable in response to the barrier movements and arranged to automatically engage the movable interlocking means when the latter is released to hold said interlocking means in released position, said fixed interlocking means being arranged to release said holding means upon closing of the barrier to permit the'interlocking means to interengage to lock the barrier closed.

'7. A vehicle barrier mounted to open and close,

means for automatically moving the barrier to closed position when open, said barrier and an adjacent part of the vehicle being provided with interlocking means, said interlocking means comprising relatively movable parts one of which is movable to inactive position to release the barrier to permit the barrier to be opened and to active position to lock the barrier in closed position,

means under the control of the vehicle operator for moving said part to said inactive position, a holding'device mounted independent of the barrier normally held inactive by one of said parts and automatically movable into active position upon opening of the barrier to engage and maintain the other part in said inactive position while the barrier is open.

8. A vehicle barrier mounted to open and close, means for moving the barrier when open to closed position, said barrier and an adjacent part of the vehicle being provided, one with a fixed, and the other with a movable interlocking means, said interlocking means being adapted to enterengage to lock the barrier in closed position, a movable member mounted independent of the barrier and arranged to automatically engage the movable interlocking means when the latter is released to hold said interlocking means in released position, said fixed interlocking means being arranged to release said holding deviceupon closing of the barrier to allow the interlocking means to interengage to lock the barrier closed.

CHARLES A. BREIT. 

